San Ramon Regional Medical Center Focuses on Breast Cancer Campaign Urging Women to “Picture Yourself Healthy”

Saturday Screening Mammogram Appointments Offered during October

San Ramon, CA – September 30, 2011 – San Ramon Regional Medical Center’s Breast Center wants women to focus on their breast health this October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The hospital asks women to “Picture Yourself Healthy,” encouraging each to take the one picture that could save her life – a mammogram.

“Picture Yourself Healthy is about more than just remembering to get a mammogram,” explains Vanessa Cotton, R.N., M.S, Breast Center nurse manager. “It’s about women keeping themselves in the picture and making their health just as much of a priority as are their families and careers.”

Earlier detection through mammography screenings, increased public awareness of breast cancer and improved treatments have helped reduce the rate of death from breast cancer in the United States. Breast cancers that are found during a screening exam tend to be smaller and confined to the breast, which means that the cancer is more treatable.

For the convenience of our patients, San Ramon Regional Medical Center is adding Saturday appointments during October 2011 for screening mammograms. Saturday appointment times are limited. Call The Breast Center for an appointment at 925.275.8335. A physician order is required. The hospital accepts payment from Medicare and most insurance plans.

The Breast Center is located in the South Building, 7777 Norris Canyon Road, San Ramon on the hospital campus. The center has the following equipment and services: Hologic Digital Mammography with computer-aided detection (CAD), ultrasound, stereotactic biopsies, DEXA bone density testing, and diagnostic X-Ray procedures.

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer accounts for more than one in four cancers diagnosed among women in the United States, making it the most common cancer among women, other than skin cancer. While Caucasian women have a higher incidence of breast cancer after age 45, African American women are more likely to develop breast cancer at earlier ages and have a higher risk of dying from breast cancer at all ages. There is no guaranteed way to prevent breast cancer, which makes earlier detection through regular mammograms very important.  

Breast Cancer Facts

Types of Breast Cancer

• Most breast cancers begin in cells lining the ducts of the breast.
• Lumps in the breast may be due to fibrocystic changes in the breast tissue. In fact, most breast lumps turn out to be benign (non-cancerous).
• About 25 percent of new breast cancers will be classified as ductal carcinoma in situ, which means a cancer in the duct cells that has not moved to other areas of the breast or body.
• When a ductal carcinoma breaks through the wall of the milk duct and begins to grow in the fatty tissue of the breast, it is called invasive or infiltrating ductal carcinoma. This is the most common type of invasive breast cancer, accounting for about 80 percent of invasive breast cancers.

Breast Cancer Statistics

• According to the American Cancer Society, more than 230,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2011.
• Nearly 58,000 women will be diagnosed with in situ breast cancer this year.
• This year nearly 40,000 women will die from breast cancer.
• While it is relatively rare, men can get breast cancer. More than 2,000 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
• Breast cancer rates have been decreasing among women ages 50 and older. This may be due to the decline in the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Lung cancer is the primary cause of cancer death in women.
• Earlier detection through mammography screenings, increased public awareness of breast cancer and improved treatments have helped reduce the rate of death from breast cancer in the United States.

Breast Cancer Genetics

• Between 5 and 10 percent of breast cancers may be due to inherited genetics.
• Some breast cancer risk factors – gender, age, genetics, a family or personal history of breast cancer, race and having dense breast tissue – cannot be changed.
• An inherited mutation in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes is the most common cause of inherited breast cancer.
• BRCA mutations in the United States are mainly found in Jewish women of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) descent, but these mutations can be found in any racial or ethnic group.
• White women may be more likely to develop breast cancer than African American women but African American women have a higher risk of death. In part, this is because African American women develop more aggressive tumors.

Other Risk Factors for Breast Cancer

• Women who began having menstrual cycles before age 12 or who went through menopause after age 55 may have an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
• Women who use combined hormone therapy (estrogen and progesterone) after menopause may have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The risk can increase with as little as two years on HRT, but the risk returns to normal within five years of stopping HRT treatment.
• Women who have two to five alcoholic drinks per day have about 1.5 times the risk of developing breast cancer compared to those who don’t drink. Excessive drinking has been linked to an increased risk of developing mouth, throat, esophagus and liver cancers. The American Cancer Society recommends women limit themselves to no more than one drink a day.
• Women who are overweight or obese have a higher risk of developing breast cancer. This may be due to estrogen in fat cells or higher blood insulin levels. Maintaining a normal weight is one way you can reduce your risk of breast cancer.
• You may be able to reduce your risk of developing breast and other cancers by getting regular physical exercise. Briskly walking for 1.25 to 2.5 hours each week may reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer by 18 percent, according to a Women’s Health Initiative study.

Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations

• Breast cancers that are found during a screening exam tend to be smaller and still confined to the breast, which means they are more treatable.
• The American Cancer Society recommends that women start getting an annual screening mammogram starting at age 40.
• According to American Cancer Society guidelines, women in their 20s and 30s should have a clinical breast exam (CBE) at least every three years as part of their routine health physicals. Starting at age 40, women should get a CBE every year.
• Starting in their 20s, women may choose to perform breast self-exams, but they should be shown the correct method by a health professional.
• There’s debate over when to start mammograms. The US Preventive Taskforce says women ages 50-74 should get one every other year. The American Cancer Society and American College of Surgeons still advise women start annual mammograms at age 40 or younger for those at high risk. Talk to your doctor about what’s best for you.

Mammography Radiation Levels

• Mammograms use very low levels of radiation. Usually women only get a dose of 0.1 to 0.2 rads per image.

Sign and Symptom of Breast Cancer

• The most common symptom of breast cancer is a lump or mass in the breast. Other signs may include:
• breast swelling
• skin irritation
• breast or nipple pain
• nipples turning inward
• skin changes to the breast or nipple
• discharge (other than breast milk) from the nipple.

Swollen lymph nodes near the breast may indicate that a breast cancer has spread.